Capturing Happiness
by VectorCrocodileFangirl
Summary: /Chisame x Jack Rakan/ Sometimes it can't be helped; you just have to learn life lessons from a complete idiot.


A/N: My first attempt at writing anything for this fandom, in spite of the fact that I first started reading the manga around the time the tenth volume came out. I started rereading it recently (and finished reading it for the first time), and found myself immediately in love with both Chisame and Jack Rakan, a love that has culminated in this monster. I'm not particularly confident about my characterization, but I'm somewhat proud of my ability to change my dialogue style to reflect the manga a bit more. I also took some creative liberties with the restaurant/hotel place the group was in during chapter 355.

In other news, there needs to be more of this pairing.

* * *

"Whaaaaaat? Whadd'you mean you're going home?!"

"I already told you, I have work to do! Jeez, you'd think none of you guys had jobs or anything."

"We've gone through all the trouble of setting up a party for our whole class! You _have_ to be there, Hasegawa!"

"How come you would rather sit in front of that computer screen than hang out with us?"

"I have to work! It has nothing to do with you guys! If it makes you stop bugging me, I promise I'll come to the next one, okay? Sheesh!"

Negi couldn't help but flinch a little as the voices of Yuuna, Makie, and Chisame floated through the halls. The limitless energy of the former two truly hadn't dissipated even after quite a few years, but unfortunately Chisame's coldness hadn't dissipated all that much, either. True, she had opened up quite a bit during their adventure in the magic world- but after they had returned, she had started drifting away again. Even he only saw her a few times a year; most of their communications were through emails.

"So that's Chisame-chan, huh?" Nagi stared at the door that led into the hall. Yuuna and Makie were still trying to convince Chisame to stay the extra few days, with no luck, but it was more background noise than anything.

"Ah- yes," Negi replied. "I'm sorry, she can seem a little bit cold at times. She likes to throw herself into her work."

"Ha ha! So you like _that_ kind of girl, eh?" Nagi asked tauntingly, side-eyeing him as he failed to hide a smirk behind his hand. Negi turned bright red, bunching his hands together in his lap.

"I—it's not like that!" he replied immediately, so flustered he was stuttering. "Chisame-san is just a friend!"

"Just like all of the other girls you used to teach, right?" his father asked with the same side-eye. Negi just turned a brighter shade of red.

"I—it's not— I'm not—" he stammered. It was only the door at the other end of the room opening and closing that dragged Nagi's attention from him and potentially saved him from a very awkward conversation.

"What are those two excited girls screaming about now?" Jack asked, grinning as he carried a mug of beer that would have been the size of a keg for most people.

"Already drinking, Jack? It's barely past noon," Nagi said with a teasing air and a matching grin. Jack dropped onto the couch next to him, on the opposite side from Negi, his weight making the sectional bounce.

"Hey, if the kid's gonna be footin' the bill, I'm gonna live it up while I have a chance!" he replied, laughing raucously. Nagi joined him in his laughter, while Negi paled and tried not to think too hard about the bill he was going to be stuck with at the end of the visit. His work with the ISSDA and his savings would cover it, he was sure, but he was also sure that the dent would be unpleasant. The din from Yuuna and Makie picked up again, although Chisame's part was no longer a part of it. Negi assumed she had retired to her room to escape the pestering. "So, hey, what's their deal?" Jack asked again, although he didn't seem to realize he was just repeating himself.

"Ah— Chisame-san told them she wouldn't be staying for the reunion party," Negi explained. "After all the trouble they went to in order to make sure everyone else would be there, I think they're a little upset."

Jack's grin slipped for a moment, just long enough for Negi to catch it out of the corner of his eye. He thought his father probably saw it, too, but if he did he said nothing. Rakan's characteristic grin was back before Negi could even mention it.

"Tch. Just like Chisame-chan. Always so brutal when it comes to other people's hearts."

While he was speaking he had leaned back, the perfect image of relaxation, but when he finished what he was saying he cracked open an eye and looked to the left. He seemed to be waiting for something, but if it came, he gave no indication. Instead he just took a drink of his beer and settled even further into his comfortable position.

"Negi-senseiii, you have to do something!"

Yuuna and Makie practically came barrelling through the door in a clear state of distress. Negi flinched at the sheer amount of wailing, while Nagi and Jack seemed endlessly amused by the energetic antics of his former students.

"Hasegawa says she's not going to come to our reunion party!" Makie said shrilly, holding her balled fists close to her chest. For a moment, the sight of her like that made Negi feel nostalgic— no matter how much older Makie got, she always seemed to stay the same. But she and Yuuna seemed rather intent on getting him to interfere, as they crowded around his seat on the sectional sofa. He tried to silently plead for help from either his father or Rakan, but both of them seemed content to sit back and watch the ensuing drama.

"Y-yes, I heard your conversation with her," he said, trying to be a tad aloof. He had a pretty good guess as to what they wanted from him, but if he could avoid it, he would. "It's a shame she can't make it."

"You have to make her come!" Yuuna asserted. She wasn't quite as distraught as Makie, and seemed more annoyed than anything, but she was the sort of person who was nothing if not determined to get her way. "We only just managed to get everyone to cancel their plans- even Asuna and Iincho! We can't have perfect attendance without Hasegawa!"

"W-well, it's not like I can say anything that will make Chisame-san's work go away.." he offered, putting his hands up in front of him. Yuuna seemed to get even angrier and Makie more upset, but he didn't know what else he could say. It was true, wasn't it?

"Heh. Maybe _I'll_ go talk to Chisame-chan," Jack laughed, like it was some sort of hilarious joke. In a way, it was. Even Nagi picked up on that fact.

"Since when did you become so selfless?" the Thousand-Master asked, grinning.

"What, am I just supposed to sit around and let pretty girls get upset?"

"Big talk for a big pervert. Everyone knows you don't do anything without the promise of getting something in return."

"Hey, _someone_ had to take over when you just disappeared out of the blue! I'm just counting on Makie-chan and Yuuna-chan to be generous if I get them their perfect attendance."

Makie laughed as she watched the exchange. "They really are good friends, aren't they?" she asked. The fact that she had been upset about Chisame had disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Yes.. the best kind of partners," Negi replied. He had seen Rakan and his father together in Jack's old recordings, but seeing them truly together after Nagi's revival was something else entirely. "Aren't you.. still upset about Chisame-san's refusal, though?"

Makie smiled at him. "Heh heh. If it's Rakan-san, I think things will be just fine," she replied.

Negi looked at her blankly, unsure how her train of thought had led her there but somehow agreeing. Rakan _did_ seem to be capable of almost anything.

* * *

Chisame sat on her bed, laptop firmly in her lap, door firmly locked. It wasn't as though she wanted nothing to do with her former classmates, although the idea of hanging out with all of them at once was a bit grating to her normally reclusive self— she just really did have a lot of work to do. That was all. And she had bought her ticket as a round trip well before anyone had come up with the idea of having a reunion party, so there was another reason she just couldn't go, no matter how much Makie and Yuuna begged.

_You would think after all these years, they would have grown up a little_, she thought, although she had never really expected anything different. Makie and Yuuna would always be the sort of women with boundless enthusiasm. It irritated her, but at the same time, it was at least _familiar_.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, making her twitch. She had put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door; didn't that make it obvious that she didn't want to see anyone? She didn't really expect them to be _that_ persistent- although, now that she thought about it, she really should have. She persistently ignored them, keeping her eyes on the computer screen. If she just ignored them for long enough, they would just go away; even Makie and Yuuna would get the message after a while.

The door swung open, its locks shattering completely. Chisame jumped, her computer tumbling off of her lap to land on the bed next to her. When she saw Jack Rakan standing there, looking innocently perplexed, her fearful bristling turned to angry bristling.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing, bursting into a woman's room like that?!" she demanded, grabbing one of her pillows and throwing it at his face. It hit its mark quite squarely, but simply dropped off his face as he laughed.

"Ahaha! Same old Chisame!" he said raucously, stepping inside. He let the door swing uselessly, no longer able to lock or even properly close.

"Why're _you_ here? And what's up with that informality?" she demanded, scowling at the swordsman. He seemed unaffected by her cruel expression.

"Heard you were planning on skipping out on the reunion," he replied, grinning like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the situation.

"Tch. Why do _you_ care?" she asked, slumping back on her bed. She felt no need to be formal or composed around him; he simply wasn't worth it.

"I don't, really," he replied, shrugging. "I just want your friends to owe me if I manage to fix their problems."

Chisame's face twitched again. "Yeah, that sounds more like you."

"So why're you skipping out on the party?" he asked, stepping into the room and dropping himself into one of the armchairs in front of her bed. Chisame swore the ground must have shaken when he did.

"Like I told those two, I have work to do. I can't just drop everything like they can," she replied, reaching for her dropped laptop.

"Negi told me you do most of your work from your computer," he said. "Can't you do it from your laptop?"

Another twitch. "I— don't have the right programs on this, or the right equipment," she lied. Her laptop was just as well equipped to do her work as her desktop, it just simply wasn't as secure.. although the electronic sprites could probably take care of that for her. _No, no, _she thought. _Don't turn back on your convictions now, Hasegawa. You told those dunces you're not going, and you're not going._ With Rakan's eyes on her, though, it was hard to just leave it at that. "Besides, I bought a round trip ticket, and since I already used the ticket to get here, it's non-refundable."

"Ha ha! That all?" he asked, seemingly quite amused by her answer. "You're gonna just skip out on the party because you're cheap?"

"H-hey! What's that, coming from the king of cheap bastards?" she demanded, pointing a finger accusingly. "I don't have piles of money just sitting around the way you do! I'm living on a budget!"

"Is that all?" he asked, grinning like a loon. "Heh. Here."

The Thousand Blades reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, counting them out. When he'd finished, he clipped them together and tossed them in her direction, landing squarely in her lap on top of the computer. She blinked at the pile of money.

"..what the Hell is this?" she asked, picking it up. Even a cursory glance at the bills told her they were indeed genuine, although she hadn't expected anything different; she knew Rakan was loaded.

"That should be enough to cover the price of your ticket, right? Consider it your refund," he said. He shoved the rest of his money back in his pocket and reclined in the chair, hands folded behind his head. He looked pleased with himself, and that just annoyed her.

"Yeah, right! Like I want to be in debt to an old pervert like you," she said, throwing the money back at him. He caught it effortlessly and threw it back, like they were playing catch.

"Hey, no debt! Like I said, I'm counting on the generosity of your friends," he said, giving her a thumbs up. She threw the money clip back and they played their game of catch again.

"I don't want _them_ to be in debt to a pervert like you, either!" she replied.

"So you'd rather disappoint them? Leave them upset and looking for comfort? Haha! That works for me!" He laughed, slapping his knee like it was some hilarious joke. Chisame twitched again, and wondered if it was going to develop into some sort of permanent muscle spasm.

"Alright, you old pervert! If you'll stop saying gross things like that, I'll go," she said through gritted teeth. Rakan grinned and threw the money clip back to her, and this time she caught and held it.

"I knew Chisame wouldn't let her friends down! You're just not that kind of girl," he said, standing and clapping his hands like she had given him an excellent performance.

"What's up with all of that 'Chisame' crap! At least call me Chisame-chan, you old pervert," she said, throwing another one of her pillows at his head. Her bed was looking quite bare now, and once again Rakan just let it hit him and drop off.

"Alright, Chisame-chan," he said, grinning and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"If that's all you came for, get out of my room already," she said, turning back to her computer. She tried not to watch Rakan as he left, but it was hard to avoid having her eye drawn to such a hulking mass. He left her room, slamming the door behind him with accidental force, although the door didn't close- since he had broken the mechanism that kept it closed.

She sighed. She knew she was going to regret this; the question was, just how _much_ was she going to regret it?

* * *

Makie and Yuuna immediately crowded around Rakan as soon as he stepped inside.

"Did she say she'd stay?" Yuuna asked, standing on the tips of her toes to look more closely at Jack. The Thousand Blades laughed and rubbed the back of his neck leisurely.

"Yeah, I convinced her!" he said. "No need to thank me- you guys can just owe me a favour later."

"Yaaay! Now everyone's coming to the reunion party!" Makie said, pumping a fist excitedly in the air. "C'mon, Yuuna, we've gotta go get everything ready!" She grabbed her friend's hand and dragged her off to places unknown in order to start getting things ready for the party. Presumably there were things like food that were necessary to arrange.

"Wow, you must really have a gift, Rakan-san," Negi commented, taking a sip of the tea he had ordered from room service while Jack had been gone. "Chisame-san isn't the sort of person who's easy to convince when she's made her mind up about something."

"Heh heh, I just have a talent for dealing with stubborn girls like her, that's all," he replied, dropping back into his seat. He snatched his mug of beer back from Nagi, who had taken it during his absence. "We're the same sort of person, after all."

"And she's exactly your 'type', isn't she?" Nagi asked, waggling his eyebrows teasingly. "Just like a certain energetic princess, if I remember."

"Chisame-chan? You must be out of your mind, Nagi," he laughed. His laughter was interrupted by a book slamming into the side of his head, knocking him to the side.

"An old pervert like you would be lucky to get a woman like me, not that it would ever happen in a million years," Chisame said, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. She was glaring, but in an idle sort of way. In reality, she didn't seem particularly bothered by the comment, but was angry simply on principle.

Jack lifted his head, and Negi gasped when he saw the streak of blood running down the side of his face. Chisame seemed to choke on her tongue, and even Nagi's eyebrows went up.

"H-hey— what's with that blood?! There's no way I threw that hard enough to hurt _you_!" Chisame demanded, striding over so she was standing next to Rakan. He reached up to rub the blood on his temple, then looked at his hand.

"Ha! Guess this body isn't as tough as the real thing," he said, seemingly completely unaffected by the blow to the head. He simply reached for his beer again.

"Ah— that's right. You can't leave the magic world in your real body, can you?" Nagi asked, leaning back in his seat. "What's up with that fake body of yours, anyway?"

"Heh— I don't know much about the magic behind it. I'm not the kinda guy to know that sort of stuff," he replied, putting his hands up. "I guess this body is some kind of golem. Don't know what's going on with my real body, though.. whether it's asleep somewhere or just stuffed inside this one."

"Don't think about it too hard, or your head might explode," Nagi warned teasingly. Rakan laughed and smacked him firmly in the back, hard enough to break an ordinary man's spine. Negi jumped a little, but Nagi just laughed openly. He was certainly having a hard time getting used to their friendship, particularly when his father still wasn't fully healed.

"Tch. If it's not your real body, then no reason to worry, right?" Chisame said, stepping away from the couch. She paused only to pick up her book, which had bounced off of Jack's head and landed on the ground a few steps away.

"Haha! Cold as ever, Chisame-chan," he laughed. It seemed to Negi like he was always laughing, which gave him his jovial reputation. The computer guru simply ignored him and walked out the door opposite to the one she had come from. Jack just continued to grin, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

Nagi grinned, too.

* * *

_Looks like Makie and Yuuna did a pretty good job.._

Chisame looked around the conference room that Negi had rented for their reunion party. The lounge and series of hotel rooms that they had been staying in was all well and good for the small handful of people who had shown up originally, but for more than thirty of them, it would be way too crowded. As soon as Rakan had told them he had convinced her to stay, they had gone about the process of decorating, finding catering, and getting everything else that was necessary set up. It seemed, in fact, that all of their preparations _hinged_ on whether or not she was going to be there.

_Leave it to them to be majorly dramatic.._

It was, in fact, the very _day_ of the reunion. Chisame had spent the previous day mostly cooped up in her room; she had been expecting to spend the day buying souvenirs and all the other things that people on vacations normally did before the day they went home, but she knew she was going to be dealing with an emotionally draining day. She had worked on some of the projects that she had tried to use as an excuse to go home, and had otherwise spent her time browsing the internet. It had been a relaxing day, but the knowledge that the reunion party was creeping up just sort of hung around in the back of her mind, eating away at that peace.

"Ah! Good morning, Chisame-san," Nodoka greeted. She was carrying a cup of coffee and had apparently had the same idea as Chisame, coming to check out the job Yuuna and Makie had done on the decorations. "I thought you were going home today?"

"I— didn't really want to get up that early for a flight," she lied, crossing her arms. It seemed that Makie and Yuuna hadn't told people Rakan had convinced her to stay— then again, why would they? They just wanted her there for some strange sense of completion, and they'd probably been too busy putting the party together to share chit-chat like that with other people.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to stay," she said sweetly. Her stuttering wallflower persona might have been stripped away over the years, but she had a kind personality that was unlikely to ever fade. "It wouldn't have been the same without you. It'll be better with all of us there, just like the old days."

"Yeah— like the old days," Chisame parroted. She wasn't as sincere as the lighthearted bookworm; she would have been much happier just being at home in front of her computer, working or maybe updating her website. But for some reason, she had given in to the old pervert's badgering, and so she was stuck going to the party. Her flight didn't leave until the next afternoon, and if she tried to just hide in her room, Makie and Yuuna would pester her endlessly. _Tch.. what a pain in the ass.._ she thought. _Can't I just be allowed to want to spend time alone? Maybe I just don't like parties.._

"I think Makie and Yuuna did a great job on the decorations," Nodoka said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I'm excited for the others to get here."

"Mmhm. Yeah," she agreed, not really paying attention. Her attention was more attracted to the wall-to-wall plate glass windows. The view of Mahora was just as gorgeous as it was on the open-air landing on the floor above. In the day it was a rather striking sight, and she could only imagine what it would look at at night when the whole place was lit up. It would probably look like a field of fireflies.

"I bet Asakura-san will be glad to see you. I remember the two of you being close," Nodoka said idly as she ran her fingers across a series of ribbon streamers that the girls had strung around the room. She paused when she realized she had lost Chisame's attention. "Are you feeling alright, Chisame-san? You seem a little.. distracted."

"Er— yeah. Sorry. I guess I'm just a bit tired," she said, faking a yawn for good measure. "I think I'll take a nap before the party."

"That's probably a good idea. You are looking a little pale. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?" Nodoka asked, with genuine concern. It made Chisame feel somewhat guilty about outright lying to her, but she also felt a little insulted; she wasn't actually feeling very tired, so why did Miyazaki think she looked pale?

"I guess so," she replied. She would have to take a look in the mirror when she got back to her room and see if she really did look pale. "Anyway, I'll see you around."

She turned and walked off, leaving the bookworm to her coffee and decoration admiration. If she was going to be stuck at the reunion party for however long, she wanted to make sure her bags were packed so she wouldn't be packing them in the middle of the night, and any work that needed to be done was well and truly finished.

As she ascended the stairs to the level where all of their hotel rooms were, she bumped into someone on the staircase and nearly lost her balance. A hand the size of her forearm grabbed her and kept her from falling, leaving her balanced precariously on the balls of her feet.

"Whoa there, little miss! Where's the fire?" Rakan asked, with his usual annoying grin. He helped set her back on her feet, making sure she was standing upright before moving carefully around her so she was on the steps above and he was on the steps below.

"Why does it seem like you're around every corner?" Chisame asked, smoothing out her rumpled shirt sleeve. "Are you stalking me or something?"

"Ha! Always paranoid, aren't you?" he laughed. "Where are you sneaking off to?"

"My flight leaves tomorrow," she replied. "I have to make sure everything is packed before the party, or I might not have time to do it afterwards, depending on how long you guys keep me trapped there."

She accented her complaint with a roll of her eyes. Rakan laughed at her, not his usual raucous laughter but a sort of amused chortle. "Just don't try to skip out on the party, you hear? If you do, I'll have to track you down and punish you, you hear?" He gave her a thumbs-up and a lecherous grin as he spoke. It nearly made her gag.

"I told you to stop saying gross things, didn't I?" she said, her eye twitching. "Why do you care so much about me going to this party, anyway? You keep talking about Sasaki and Akashi paying you back, but you know they don't make _that_ much money, and you're not _that_ big of a pervert." At least, she hoped he wasn't.

"Heh. I just think it's healthy for a young woman to get out and party every once in a while!" he replied. "Too much cooping themselves up in their rooms turns them into stodgy old hags."

Chisame ground her teeth, feeling the veins in her forehead bulge. "Why, you—"

Before she could finish what she had to say, Yuuna popped her head into the stairwell. "Hey, Rakan-san! There you are! Mind helping us move some tables?" she asked.

"Sure thing, little lady," he said, giving her a thumbs up. He turned back briefly to Chisame. "Seeya later, Chisame-chan."

She rolled her eyes again and ascended the stairs. He really was a pain in the ass sometimes.

* * *

"Ah, Chisame-san! There you are!"

Asakura greeted her with a jovial wave and half-salute. The party hadn't officially started yet, but some of the guests had already started arriving, and Negi and his father were keeping them company. Makie and Yuuna were nowhere to be seen, presumably in the middle of getting ready. She had chosen to descend early not out of any eagerness to attend, but because she didn't want to get caught up in the inevitable rush when scores of her former classmates and select other friends started arriving. She had changed into something a bit more high-class, a nice pair of slacks and a button-up black shirt with a nice necklace, but only because she had brought a nice outfit and didn't want it to go to waste. It wasn't as if she wanted to show off for her former classmates.

"I was wondering if you were going to show," the journalist and acclaimed author said, laughing as she put her hands on her hips. "You don't come to these sort of things very often."

"Yeah, well," Chisame said, adjusting her glasses. "I sort of got pestered into it."

"Well, now we know the secret," she grinned. "If we just bug you enough, we can get you to bend to our wills."

"Don't get any ideas," she said firmly. "I might just stop answering your emails and phone calls altogether."

"Ahaha! You're no fun, Hasegawa. Just like the old days," Asakura sighed fondly. Chisame was about to make a comment on how insulting that sounded when something reached out from the wall behind her and grabbed her waist. She shrieked indignantly, and Asakura almost doubled over in laughter. With a bit of flailing, Chisame pulled free and stumbled forwards, turning around to see Sayo protruding from the wall and looking embarrassed. "S-sorry, Chisame-san, I put her up to that. You're always so serious, I thought it would be funny to see you a little out of your element for once."

"Hmph. You guys just never grow up, do you?" she asked. She could still feel the hair standing up on the back of her neck, both from the fright and from the icy coldness of Sayo's dead hands. "You guys still act like a bunch of middle-schoolers."

"Heh heh. It's more interesting than being a boring old grown-up, isn't it?" she asked with a wave of her hand. "You may think parties like this are boring, but I'm glad you're here, Hasegawa. You're just as much a member of the team as the rest of us, after all. Maybe moreso, after everything that happened in the magical world that time."

Chisame blushed a little, completely involuntarily. It was kind of flattering to hear so many people say that the party wouldn't be the same without her, even if she didn't exactly _want_ to be there. "Y-yeah, well— like I told Miyazaki, I hate getting up early for flights, anyway," she said with an embarrassed cough. Asakura grinned at her, and Sayo giggled girlishly behind her hand.

"You really are the same as always, Chisame-san," Sayo said. Unlike everyone else, she really _hadn't_ changed, being dead and caught in a permanent form of stasis. Even then, she seemed somehow more mature than the last time Chisame had seen her, which was admittedly more recently than most of her former classmates. She and Asakura still kept in touch and the journalist even came to visit sometimes, although never the reverse. Chisame didn't get out of the house much; this trip to Mahora was one of the first times she had visited somewhere that wasn't her parents' house, less than a few hours' drive from her own home.

She wanted to say something to Sayo's comment, although she wasn't quite sure _what_ she wanted to say— but an excited din caught her off guard. Asuna and Ayaka had just arrived, and there was a certain amount of fluster surrounding their introductions to Nagi (although she supposed it was more of a reunion, in Asuna's case). The party was due to start in less than an hour, and the guests were trickling in slowly. Some of them wouldn't arrive until later, travelling a great distance as they were, but everyone in the former 3A class and a few select others (such as Anya and Kotarou) had assured Makie and Yuuna that they would be there. She distinctly remembered Rakan's comment about 'perfect attendance'— the supposed reason he'd agreed to help them get her to stay. What he'd said to her in the stairwell earlier that day had seemed more like him, though; he was the sort of person who wouldn't understand why someone wouldn't rather spend a night home alone than go to a party with their friends. He was as big of an extrovert as they came.

Thinking of Rakan made her realize that she hadn't seen him _since_ that encounter in the stairwell. Part of her hoped that he had taken the stalking comment to heart and had avoided her, but she knew that was just wishful thinking; he wasn't that sort of person. If she hadn't seen him all day, it was likely pure coincidence.

"Chisame-san? Hey, Hasegawa?" Asakura said, waving a hand in front of her face. She wasn't quite so distracted as to not notice it, but it did take her a moment to react; she smacked her hand away when she did. "What's got you so distracted?"

"Eh— nothing," she replied, shrugging.

"Looks like everyone's going to be here soon," Sayo said excitedly. "I hope everyone enjoys all of the food Makie-san and Yuuna-san have put out. It looks delicious."

"Heh.. one day soon we'll get Hakase to build you a robot body that can taste food just like a real body," Asakura assured her with a reassuring thumbs-up. As the two got absorbed in a conversation about the possibility of such an endeavour, Chisame wandered off, realizing she had been unceremoniously dropped out of the conversation.

She looked around the room at the other conversations going on; Ayaka still trying to endear herself to Negi's father while Asuna watched with both irritation and embarrassment, Nodoka and Yue congratulating Haruna on her latest manga release, and Makie and Yuuna greeting everyone that had shown up in the interval that they had spent doing their hair and makeup. There were still a number of people due to arrive, but at least half of class 3A was there already, and Chisame just had to ask herself—

What was _she_ doing there?

* * *

The party proceeded without incident. Everyone arrived within a half an hour of the party's start, which was even earlier than many of them had said they would show up. Yuuna had wasted no time in breaking out the alcohol, and some of the more rambunctious members were already starting to get tipsy. As people arrived, Negi would introduce them to his father— most responding with various degrees of shock and excitement— and then they would go about mingling with their former classmates, talking about everything that had happened in their lives since they had last seen each other.

Chisame stayed out of the way. A few people came over to the couch she had seated herself on, stopping to chat for a few minutes before being distracted by another classmate; when Negi wasn't with his father and the people he was introducing to him, he was with her as much as possible, presumably out of pity for the fact that she was sitting and drinking her champagne alone. Chisame bitterly wished that he would stop trying so hard. It was a nice sentiment the first few times he had done it, but they quickly ran out of things to talk about, and he was constantly being distracted anyway.

_It would be better if he just stuck with his old man and Kagurazaka and Iincho,_ she thought. It wasn't like she was suffering or anything; she was a little bored, maybe, but worst case scenario she had a phone with solitaire and a myriad of other games to keep her occupied. She didn't mind being left alone all that much; the food was good, the champagne was good, and truthfully she felt a little embarrassed every time she had to tell one of the other girls that all she was really up to these days was staying at home on her computer.

"You look pretty sad, sittin' here and drinking all on your own."

Chisame nearly jumped when she felt the couch bounced off of the floor under Rakan's weight. She hadn't seen the gladiator approach— in fact, she hadn't known he was at the party at all. He had been conspicuously absent, considering all the trouble he had gone to in forcing _her_ to be there.

"Hmph. I'm only here so you'd stop being a pain, anyway," she replied. "Where've you been all this time?"

"Heh heh.. well, Albireo challenged me to a game of cards," he explained, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "We just finished up. He sort of cleaned me out."

Chisame raised her eyebrows. "Not entirely, I hope," she said. She wasn't sure how much money Rakan had, but she knew it was considerable. The man did nothing for free, after all, and his prices were rarely reasonable. Not to mention the size of his house..

"Ha ha! No, no, if we've been playing to my last drachma it would have taken us all night and day," he replied, giving her a thumbs up. "He just got the rest of the money I had exchanged for this trip. My fault for agreeing to play cards with the cheating bastard, anyway."

"Just don't expect me to feel sorry for you and give you back the money you gave me," Chisame said, taking another sip of her champagne. Rakan laughed.

"Still as cold as ever, eh, Chisame?" His voice was quieter than his usual roar, and he seemed almost _calm_ in comparison to his normal massive stores of energy. She narrowed her eyes and twisted her mouth into a sort of half-grimace.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," she said. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head. "I guess planting a thought in that thick head of yours must be pretty hard."

"So why are you sitting over here looking like your best friend just died? It is a _party_, after all," he said, leaning back to relax. Chisame raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"You look sad; I said that already," he replied. Chisame looked at herself in the surface of the plate glass window she was sitting next to; she didn't _think_ she looked sad, but then again, maybe she was just used to seeing her own face like that.

Instead of trying to come up with an excuse, she just shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of parties," she said simply. "Besides, what do you care? Your job was to get me to come to the party, and I came. Now I'm here. I've even talked to a whole bunch of people. You can go ask Negi-sensei if you don't believe me."

"Tch. With a sour attitude like that, you're gonna end up stinking up the whole place, kid," he said, dropping a flat palm on the top of her head. She punched him forcefully in the side, but he simply patted her on the head twice before withdrawing his hand. "Drink some more, lighten up! You're young, you're supposed to be enjoying this kind of thing while you can."

She'd had enough. She all but slammed her flute of champagne onto the nearby arm table and stood up, clenching her fists at her side. Jack's eyebrows shot up, at least as much as one could tell behind his ever-present bandana, as though he hadn't expected such a response.

Without looking back at him, she strode towards the door at the far end of the room. She must have looked particularly grim, because Negi stopped in the middle of his conversation with Nodoka as she passed.

"Chisame-san, are you alright?" he asked with concern, his hand hovering over her arm.

"I'm fine," she replied, in a voice that was maybe a bit more intense than she had intended. "Just need to go to the bathroom."

"O-okay.." he said unsurely, as if he didn't quite believe her, but he wasn't the type to call her out on such a thing. "If you need anything.."

"I'm fine, sensei," she replied, her voice just a tad more convincing this time. She continued on her path towards the door and only stopped once it had closed behind her and she was halfway down the hall.

She stopped to let out a breath, not even realizing she had been holding one in since she had stalked away from Jack. She leaned against the wall, hands folded behind her back.

_Why did I let that idiot talk me into coming here?_ She wondered, bowing her head. _This is no place for me.. I should just hide in my room until everyone else is gone._

"Hey, Chisame!"

The forceful voice echoed down the hall as the door slammed behind the huge figure who had to duck to step through the doorway in the first place. She was angry that he had followed her, but all she could do was glare indignantly at him.

"Jeez, I've never seen someone run from a comment about their smell like that," he said, striding up to her. She felt dwarfed in his shadow, but it only made her more angry. "Sorry if I insulted you. You don't actually smell. It was a metaphor."

"Can't you just take a hint and leave me alone?" she said through gritted teeth. "I don't want to be here. Why do you keep pestering me like this?"

"You're always so wound up, kid," he said, crossing his arms. He stood next to her and leaned back against the wall the same way she was, although not quite mimicking her posture. "You need to lighten up. You're surrounded by friends and booze; it's the best kind of place to relax."

"Easy for you to say," she said. "You're a famous war hero, gladiator, and who knows what else. People all over your world know your name. When people ask you what you've been doing lately, you don't have to tell them you didn't even leave your _house_ for two weeks."

Chisame had no idea why she was suddenly saying something like that, and why she was telling _Jack Rakan_ of all people, but she regretted it as soon as he burst out laughing.

"Is that all? The real reason you didn't want to come?" he asked. She _glowered_ at him, trying to kill him with a single look.

"What do you mean, _is that all_? Everyone else is off getting married and becoming famous and having adventures," she said, pushing her hair back out of her eyes. The words were spilling out faster than she could think to stop them. "And here I am, a recluse who spends all of her time on the internet. I hardly even leave my house anymore. This is the furthest I've been from home since I graduated."

"You spend too much time worrying about what _other_ people are doing," he said, grinning down at her. "As long as you like what you're doing, you shouldn't give a crap what other people are doing with their lives."

"More of your feel-good 'you are your own boss' crap?" she said with a sigh, shaking her head. She was regretting the entire situation more and more. What had she really been hoping to achieve in venting her problems to him, of all people? "Give me a break."

"Here's a secret for you, kid," he said, putting a hand on her head and giving her a pat. It took her a moment to realize that he was trying to avoid messing up her hair, which struck her as unusually careful for him. "If you're happy, keep doing what you're doing! And if you're not happy, go out and take whatever will _make_ you happy!"

Chisame looked up and stared at his ridiculous grin. It really seemed like he didn't have a care in the world. And why should he? He was a rich war hero living in a magic world. If he wanted to, he could simply go out and slay a dragon with his bare hands whenever he wanted. What was she? A computer-bound sometimes-idol who had once helped to save the world.

But— she _had_ helped to save the world once, she reminded herself. Maybe that was enough. Maybe—

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" she said, almost by reflex. His grin widened, and she realized with some embarrassment that she had been staring at him the entire time while she had been momentarily lost in thought. "But— I guess if an idiot like you can pull something like that off, it should work for everyone."

"There's the spirit," he said encouragingly, giving her a thumbs up. "Just do whatever it takes, kiddo. Never underestimate the power of an idiot."

She couldn't help it. For the briefest of moments, before she could stop herself, she smiled. It disappeared from her face as quickly as it appeared, but she turned bright red when Rakan winked at her, realizing he had seen it anyway.

"Get back to the party with your friends," he said, standing up and stepping away from the wall. He moved in the opposite direction of the party, down the hallway she'd tried to escape through. "The kid's probably worried since you just disappeared on him."

"How long are you going to play up the 'selfless mentor' act?" she asked, watching him walk away. He didn't answer, just chuckled as he walked away.

She considered his words as she returned to the party, eyes scanning over her assembled former classmates and quite a few fellow world-savers. _Was_ she happy? Sure, until she had gone through the usual 'so what have you been up to lately' conversations with her classmates, she'd never really considered there to be anything _wrong_ with her life. She liked being alone and she liked what she did— running her website, doing the occasional job for the ISSDA, it may not have seemed like the most fulfilling thing to do with one's life but she enjoyed it.

"_And if you're _not _happy, go out and take whatever will _make_ you happy!"_

"Hmph. Idiot," she muttered under her breath. As if life really was that simple.

* * *

"Hey, where do you keep disappearing to?"

That was how Nagi greeted Jack as he stepped back inside. The party was quiet and personal, but full of enough excitement that it truly did seem like a party. He laughed as he gave the Thousand Master a firm pat on the back.

"Albireo cleaned me out at cards. Then he challenged me to a double-or-nothing rock-paper-scissors tournament," he replied. "Remind me to send him a cheque when I get home."

"Ha ha! Serves you right for not learning," he said, giving Jack a solid punch in the arm.

Chisame watched the exchange from her same place on the couch. She was still sitting alone, although she had refilled her champagne and had caught up with a few more people. Haruna had emphatically told her the plot of her latest manga, and had even given her a copy. She had skimmed through the first half of it before realizing it was something probably best read in private and shoving it in her handbag.

"Are you feeling better, Chisame-san?"

She glanced over at Negi, who had sat down beside her while she was distracted by Nagi and Jack's friendly conversation that was increasingly looking like a fist fight. It didn't shock her, not really; he had, after all, been determined to sit next to her whenever he had the chance. And since the class rep and Asuna were off hearing about Natsumi and Kotarou's most recent adventure in the magic world, he didn't have any reason _not_ to bother her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sensei," she replied, taking a drink and doing her best to feign cluelessness. Negi may have still been a teenager, but he was more perceptive than most adults. "I just went to the bathroom, like I said."

"I-is that so," he said, clearly not believing her. He simply wasn't the sort of person who would callcall someone out on a lie like that. She stared out the window, resting her face in her hand.

"..hey, Negi," she said, dropping the 'sensei' honorific. A lot of the former 3A students still called him sensei in spite of the fact that only Yue had been his student in any sense of the word since their graduation, mostly out of force of habit. Negi looked towards her expectantly, which she saw in the reflection in the plate glass window.

"Yes, Chisame-san?" he said. His happy, hopeful expression was almost sickening, and she was reminded of the time he had discovered her identity as an internet idol. She almost couldn't get out what she wanted to say, the member was so embarrassing. But after a few moments she cleared it from her thoughts.

"Are you.. happy?" she asked. "Genuinely happy? Not just sort of content?"

Negi blinked twice, not quite able to process what she was asking for a few moments. When he finally seemed to understand the question, he smiled.

"I am," he replied. "Sometimes I get stressed out or wonder if I'm doing the right thing.. but altogether, I'm very happy. I'm surrounded by friends and family, and I'm helping people while doing what I love."

Chisame watched the shift in his face as he spoke, and couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. She felt content enough with her life, but she couldn't imagine ever talking about her life with the same sort of expression that Negi was wearing. Was she _truly_ happy?

"Hmph. Maybe that idiot really does know what he's talking about.." she murmured, prompting a confused expression from Negi. She turned to him and gave him a small smile of her own. When she saw the look on his face with her own eyes, rather than in the reflection of the window, it made her pause and turn a little red. Regainine her composure, she grinned at him. "You've got a lot of nerve looking cool like that," she said, giving him her best grimace. He laughed and smiled apologetically.

"Ahaha. Maybe father is just rubbing off on me," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "What has you thinking about that sort of thing, Chisame-san?"

"Mm.. just seeing everyone from 3A and hearing about what's been going on in their lives, I guess," she replied. It wasn't exactly a lie, either. She looked out across the room at all of her former classmates and some other old friends, and in doing so, caught sight of Rakan still conversing with Nagi. Clearly sensing that someone was watching him, he caught sight of her and gave her a grin and a thumbs up. She immediately looked away like she was annoyed, although she wasn't quite sure why.

Across the room, Asuna gestured frantically and excitedly for Negi to join her and Ayaka. He gestured back as if to say he would be just a minute.

"Better go see what she wants," Chisame said, leaning back and crossing her arms. "I'm fine here. No need to sit around trying to think of things to talk about. It _is_ a party, after all." She almost slapped herself when she realized she was almost perfectly mirroring when Jack had been saying to her, but it seemed to have the intended effect. Negi smiled at her.

"Everyone's glad you're here, Chisame-san," he said reassuringly. "The same goes for you, too."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving a hand dismissively as he walked off to see what Asuna was so interested in telling him. She looked into her champagne flute, swirling what was left around so she couldn't see her own reflection in the liquid.

_'Go out and take whatever makes you happy', huh..?_

* * *

When Chisame looked at him from the couch where she was sitting with Negi, Jack gave her an enthusiastic grin and a thumbs up. The gesture wasn't lost on Nagi, who turned to see what he was looking at, then smirked at him.

"What're you so happy about?" he asked.

"They make a cute couple, don't they?" he asked in turn. Nagi wasn't sure if he was dodging the question or if that was his genuine answer. He guessed it was a little bit of both. He watched his son and the bespectacled girl alongside Jack, right up to the point where Negi went off to talk to Asuna. He shrugged.

"I guess," he replied. "Negi has a lot of cute girls who like him, though."

"What, you saying Chisame-chan isn't good enough?" Jack asked, sounding genuinely insulted by the fact that his matchmaking skills were being called into question. Nagi laughed.

"Not at all," he replied. "They just seem more like good friends to me. I don't think she's Negi's type. She seems more like _your_ type."

Jack laughed vivaciously, like Nagi had told the best joke he'd heard in his entire life. "Like I told you before, you must be out of your mind," he said. Nagi smirked at him.

"I remember us having this same conversation with the roles reversed," he said. Jack just laughed even harder and smacked him hard on the back, like he was trying to knock the wind out of him. _Tch,_ he thought, with a fond shake of the head. _I can see why she calls you an idiot all the time._

* * *

She rolled those words around carefully in her head for a while. She wasn't the sort of person who acted without thinking first; she left that sort of thing to headstrong types like Kotarou and Kagurazaka. But eventually she realized that if she was going to take the advice of an idiot, she had to _think_ like an idiot.

A few times she looked up and caught him watching her from across the room. It was starting to annoy her, really. On most days she would have ignored it, but she was supposed to be thinking like an idiot, right? So she downed the rest of her champagne, left the glass sitting by the window, and strode up to him. He was about to greet her when she grabbed his wrist (with some difficulty, considering it was as thick as her neck) and dragged him into the hallway he had followed her into earlier. In spite of her bold action and lack of general regard, nobody seemed to notice them depart aside from Nagi, who simply grinned at the sight. She ignored him.

"What do you keep staring at me for?" she demanded, pushing him in the direction of the wall. It was completely ineffectual, but he understood the message well enough. She put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes behind her glasses.

"Just watching to make sure you're following my advice," he replied, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. Chisame's face twitched.

"And you're expecting _what_ to happen, exactly?" she asked. "Am I supposed to have some sort of life-changing revelation in the middle of a _reunion party_?"

"Ha ha, c'mon, Chisame! We both know you're just waiting to make your move," he said, grinning at her. "So hurry up already! It's getting annoying waiting to see it happen."

"M-make my move..?" she said, extremely confused by the statement. "What exactly are you talking about, you old creep..?"

"Your move on the kid, obviously!" he replied. "My 'sexual tension' sense is never wrong! So get out there and make your move already, before a guy like me goes and dies of old age, you hear me?"

Chisame's jaw dropped in disbelief, and for a moment, all she would do was stutter ineffectively. When she finally managed to compose herself, she pulled back her fist and punched him square in the face.

"What the hell is with that confident smirk when you don't even know what you're talking about?" she demanded, turning a bright red. "Where do you get off thinking you understand a woman's feelings like that?"

Jack's head snapped back up, and she balked when she saw the blood streaming from his nose. _Crap_, she thought. _I forgot about the whole 'golem body' thing.. _

He wiped the blood away from his nose and stared at it blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Damn, you're just as full of energy as ever, aren't you?" He seemed completely unaffected by the bloody nose, which brought back her former icy demeanor. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Why would you just assume that getting with Negi would solve all of my problems?" she asked. "It would just cause _more_ problems, if he was even interested in the first place, which he _isn't_. Haven't you noticed that he practically has an entire harem chasing after him already?"

"Heh, but you like him, don't you?" he asked. She hadn't denied that, and she hadn't intended to.

"I used to," she replied, quite honestly. He was the kind of idiot who wouldn't be fooled by her lies, after all. "But I realized a crush like that was just more trouble than it was worth. It wasn't like I was going to marry the guy or anything, and a love _triangle_ is hard enough already, never mind a love_.. whatever _that is. Besides, that was a long time ago. I moved on."

Jack's grin slowly fell from his face as she spoke, until he was left looking like a fish out of water. It made her feel almost triumphant.

"That sounds like quitter talk," he said, sounding almost stern. "And here I thought you really took my inspiring speech to heart."

"I did, you idiot," she replied, glowering at him. "Like I said, you just don't understand a woman's feelings."

"Heh, well. Maybe you're right about that, little lady," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. His nose was still bleeding a little, and for some reason that really annoyed her. "I never was too good with women. Especially not energetic types like you."

She wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face. She reached up and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, thinking about what an idiot would do in this sort of situation.

_Whatever they wanted to,_ she thought, if but briefly.

She pulled him down to her level and kissed him. One hand came to rest on his neck, unable to feel a heartbeat thanks to the golem body.

His grin was wiped away immediately, leaving him staring dumbfounded in shock even after she pulled away. She froze, trying to figure out why she'd done something like that, when his laughter broke the silence and fueled her ire.

"Ha! You really caught me off guard there, Chisame," he said, slapping his leg. "Don't know why you'd waste a kiss on an 'old pervert' like me, though."

"Hmph. Don't be so full of yourself," she said. "I just wanted to know what it was like to kiss a complete idiot. You just happened to be the only one around. After all, you were the one who said if I wanted something, I should just take it, right?"

He grinned at that, a grin that seemed somehow more genuine than most. "I guess the student has surpassed the teacher."

She shook her head in exasperation as she turned to walk away, waving dismissively over her shoulder. "Enjoy the party, old man, and let me enjoy it my way in peace," she said.

"Will do," came his reply. She spared him one last glance over her shoulder as her hand stopped on the door handle.

He was smiling. Not grinning, or smirking, but smiling.

_Hmph. Old pervert,_ she thought, only barely suppressing a smile of her own before she disappeared back into the party.


End file.
